Led Zeppelin at Green Lake and other Seattle stories

Quirky Seattle stories you might not have heard before

CASEY MCNERTHNE, Seattle Post-Intelligencer

By CASEY MCNERTHNEY, SEATTLEPI.COM STAFF

Published 12:46 am, Thursday, February 9, 2012

The Bambino, who made his major league debut in 1914, became famous with the New York Yankees, and made his last major league appearance in 1935, first came to Seattle on Oct. 19, 1924. When his train came to King Street Station fans lined up. P-I columnist Royal Brougham, a friend of Ruth’s over the years, was his escort for Ruth’s three-day visit here. He even convinced the P-I to pay for the trip, reporter Dan Raley discovered. After a visit to Orthopedic Hospital on Queen Anne Hill, Ruth went to Dugdale Park, now the site of Lowe’s Hardware on Rainier Avenue South, where at least 9,000 people gathered. Ruth hit three home runs, including one that went over the right field fence and over a neighboring and a gas station. Read more here. Raley also has more about Ruth and his connection to the Seattle Rainiers in his book “Pitchers of Beer.”

Photo: Seattlepi.com File/MOHAI

The Bambino, who made his major league debut in 1914, became famous...

Get this: Led Zeppelin once played at Green Lake and the tickets were $4. Dozens of others listened from nearby areas or got rowboats and checked out the show from the water. The show was at the Aqua Theatre, which was built in 1950 as part of the first Seafair. The theatre was is disrepair when Led Zeppelin played there and it was dismantled in the 1970s. Today, one section of the former theatre remains. Led Zeppelin also played at Woodinville's Gold Creek Park on July 27, 1969. Read more about the Green Lake show here from Historylink.org’s Peter Blecha.

Photo: (seattlepi.com File)

Get this: Led Zeppelin once played at Green Lake and the tickets...

Next time you turn on the lights, think of this fact uncovered by Historylink.org: On March 22, 1886, representatives of Thomas Edison demonstrated the first electrical generator in Seattle. The Seattle Electric Company's steam-powered dynamo, located in Pioneer Square, powers the first incandescent light bulb to shine west of the Rocky Mountains. Edison himself visited Seattle in September 1908 and stayed at the Rainier-Grand Hotel in the 900 block of First Avenue.

Photo: Getty Images

Next time you turn on the lights, think of this fact uncovered by...

Several movie stars have been in Seattle with the many movies and productions filmed here. One of the best because of its cheezy goodness is "McQ," starring John Wayne as a Seattle cop in the early 1970s. He goes on a high-speed chase around the city, gets in a gunfight over drugs in what was Amazon's headquarters and get tips from a pimp in what's now KeyArena. If you haven't seen it, watch it with a few cold domestic beers.

Photo: DVD Cover Image

Several movie stars have been in Seattle with the many movies and...

If you’re ever in North Seattle, stop by the Caroline Tavern and throw one back for Will Rogers. The popular humorist played his last polo game on Aug. 6, 1935 at what’s now Jackson Park Golf Course, then went with some reporters to the Caroline. He and pilot Wiley Post flew out the next day, but they died in a plane crash Aug. 17. A memorial for Rogers still stands in Lake City.

Photo: Getty Images

If you’re ever in North Seattle, stop by the Caroline Tavern and...

The Grateful Dead played Seattle several times, but the most interesting might have been on July 16, 1967, when they performed for free with five other local bands at Golden Gardens Park. The show was part of a "Be-In." The Dead also played several shows at Eagles Auditorium, now home to A.C.T. Theatre. Several big names played at Eagles, including Pink Floyd, The Doors, Steve Miller Band, Joe Cocker. This picture of Jerry Garcia was taken May 26, 1995.

Photo: Grant M. Haller/seattlepi.com

The Grateful Dead played Seattle several times, but the most...

Here's a candid shot of Marilyn Monroe when she stopped by the P-I offices at Sixth Avenue and Wall Street on July 30, 1953. The photo didn't appear in the newspaper at the time and was found years later.

Photo: Seattlepi.com File/1953

Here's a candid shot of Marilyn Monroe when she stopped by the P-I...

Madonna just rocked the Super Bowl halftime show and announced she’ll be in Seattle this fall. But did you know she started her debut concert tour at Seattle’s Paramount Theater in April 1985? Madonna played three shows in Seattle, April 10, 12 and 13. The Beastie Boys were her opening act, but their song was followed by boos. Madonna started her first show with “Dress You Up,” followed with “Holiday” and ended with “Material Girl.”

Photo: Seattlepi.com File

Madonna just rocked the Super Bowl halftime show and announced...

Remember the book “Travels With Charlie” by John Steinbeck? Part of his travels were through Seattle in the fall of 1960 with his poodle, Charley.

Photo: Seattlepi.com File

Remember the book “Travels With Charlie” by John Steinbeck?...

Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, shown here in 1965, was one of many who hung around the Blue Moon Tavern, which opened in 1934 at 712 N.E. 45th Street and survived a 1990 demolition threat. Others poets who hung out there include Theodore Roethke, Richard Hugo, Carolyn Kizer, Stanley Kunitz and David Wagoner. Their time there and the history of the Blue Moon was preserved by the late Walt Crowley, another familiar face at the Blue Moon.

Photo: Davis/Getty Images, Getty Images

Beat poet Allen Ginsberg, shown here in 1965, was one of many who...

Several celebrities visited Seattle during the 1962 World’s Fair, including Astronaut John Glenn who came on May 10. He had become the first American to orbit the globe earlier that year. Others who visited the fair include Elvis Presley, who filmed a movie here, Prince Phillip the Duke of Edinburgh, and Dr. Jonas Salk, who created the polio vaccine.

Photo: Fred Jones/AP/Getty Images, Associated Press

Several celebrities visited Seattle during the 1962 World’s Fair,...

Four years before she disappeared, Amelia Earhart was in Seattle for lectures at the Civic Auditorium, which is now the greatly remodeled Seattle Center Arena. Her visit was sponsored by the Woman's Century Club and it was less than a year since she became the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.

Photo: Getty Images

Four years before she disappeared, Amelia Earhart was in Seattle...

Presidential visits are somewhat common in Seattle. Barack Obama was here multiple times and is coming again later this year. Bill Clinton, shown here under the monorail with Hillary Clinton, Al and Tipper Gore, ran Green Lake in 22:40. Probably the most significant presidential visit was on July 27, 1923 when Warren G. Harding made his last speech at Husky Stadium. He became ill in Seattle and died days later in San Francisco of pneumonia and thrombosis in San Francisco on August 2, 1923.

Photo: Greg Gibson/AP/seattlepi.com, Associated Press

Presidential visits are somewhat common in Seattle. Barack Obama...

Muhammad Ali spoke at the University of Washington as part of the Memorial Day Vietnam Convocation on May 30, 1968. "The American Negro must be given an education that will give him knowledge about him and his race," he said that day, according to Historylink.org. But he said little at the event about the Vietnam war. Speaking at the U.W., Ali discussed racial problems in the U.S., Islam, love, hate, and several other topics.

Photo: John Rooney/AP/Getty Images, AP

Muhammad Ali spoke at the University of Washington as part of the...

Bob Hope made many visits to Seattle. But did you know in 1963 he was the Honorary Grand Marshal for the Seafair Torchlight Parade? This picture is from that year with Seafair Queen Arlene Hinderlie. Hope also played the Green Lake Aqua Theater, a venue that was built for the first Seafair in 1950.

Photo: Phil H. Webber/seattlepi.com File

Bob Hope made many visits to Seattle. But did you know in 1963 he...

It was 48 years ago Thursday that The Beatles were on The Ed Sullivan Show, and a few months later they stormed through Seattle. On Aug. 21, 1964, they played what’s now KeyArena and it was front page news for days. They also returned in 1965. Follow this link to read more about the Beatles in Seattle and the Beatles suit at the Edgewater Hotel.

Photo: Phil H. Webber/seattlepi.com File/1965

It was 48 years ago Thursday that The Beatles were on The Ed...

E.B. White, the man behind "Stuart Little," "Charlotte's Web" and "The Elements of Style" worked at both the Seattle Post-Intelligencer and The Seattle Times in the 1920s. He returned to New York where he gained fame and started his children's fiction work.

Mother Jones isn’t only a magazine. Marry Harris “Mother” Jones was a community organizer who helped coordinate strikes and founded the Industrial Workers of the World. She lived from 1837 to 1930 and spoke to thousands gathered in Seattle on May 30, 1914 following a parade in downtown Seattle.

Photo: Seattlepi.com File

Mother Jones isn’t only a magazine. Marry Harris “Mother”...

Ray Charles moved from Florida to Seattle in the late 1940s because it was the farthest he could be from where he was. He became immersed in the Seattle jazz scene and it was here where Charles released his first 78 rpm record as part of the Maxin Trio: “Confession Blues,” and “I Love You, I Love You.” This picture is from 1949.

Photo: Experience Music Project/seattlepi.com File

Ray Charles moved from Florida to Seattle in the late 1940s because...

Here's another picture from one of many presidential visits to Seattle. In this 1961 image, John F. Kennedy is in front of the downtown Seattle library with Senator Warren Magnuson and Gov. Al Rossellini.

Photo: Seattlepi.com File/1961

Here's another picture from one of many presidential visits to...

Bob Hope wasn't the only big-name Honorary Grand Marshal of the Seafair Torchlight Parade. Washington native Bing Crosby also had the honor in the 1960s.

Photo: AP/Getty Images, Associated Press

Bob Hope wasn't the only big-name Honorary Grand Marshal of the...

Joseph McCarthy, the Republican senator from Wisconsin who falsely alleged Communist activity in the United States, was in Seattle during Oct. 1952. But he was booed by members of the Washington Press Club.

Photo: Getty Images

Joseph McCarthy, the Republican senator from Wisconsin who falsely...

In 1938, Seattle’s Al Hostak won the world middleweight title in a brief boxing match at Civic Stadium, where Memorial Stadium stands today. His opponent was Tacoma’s Freddie Steele and the referee was Jack Dempsey, who hed the world heavyweight title from 1919 to 1926. Click here to read more about Hostak and the 1938 middleweight title. (seattlepi.com file)

Eamon de Valera was participant in the Easter Rebellion of 1916 and went on to become Irish Prime Minister and President of Ireland. He made two visits to Seattle, one in 1919 and another in 1930. On the 1930 visit, de Valera visited the Seattle Times press and the following year de Valera helped start the Irish Press. This picture is from 1955.

Photo: Getty Images

Eamon de Valera was participant in the Easter Rebellion of 1916 and...

Seattle is famous for Starbucks, Jimi Hendrix, rainy weather and the birthplace of grunge. It's been the birthplace for many other things: Boeing airplanes, Nordstrom, Quincy Jones and Bill Gates.

But what about the quirky visits you might not have known about?

Did you know that Led Zeppelin once played a show at Green Lake for $4? What about the 1970s movie where John Wayne plays a frustrated Seattle cop? In the 1960s, Bob Hope and Bing Crosby were honorary grand marshals of the Seafair Torchlight Parade and the Grateful Dead played their first show for free at Golden Gardens Park.

Once in the 1950s, Marilyn Monroe even stopped by to say hello to the Seattle P-I newsroom.

We've put together a gallery of some of our interesting visitors. It's far from complete, but might give you a good conversation starter.